“I did not hear that word used — no, sir,” Nielsen said after Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, asked at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing whether Mr. Trump used that word or a substantially similar word.

“I don’t dispute that the president was using tough language,” she said. “Others in the room were also using tough language.”

Nielsen said that Mr. Trump was engaged in an impassioned debate with a group of senators in the room as they discussed the administration’s priority to move to a merit-based immigration system.

Asked again if the president used vulgar language, Nielsen said, “The president used tough language in general, as did other congressmen in the room.”

Nielsen said she didn’t believe the president spoke about wanting to bring more people from Norway “specifically,” but she said she used that nation as an example after the prime minister had told Mr. Trump that the people of Norway work very hard and Nielsen said the president would like to admit people with skills into the U.S.